Deputy struck by bus at Santa Rita Jail dies

A veteran Alameda County sheriff’s deputy has died from his injuries after being hit by an inmate bus Wednesday morning at the Santa Rita Jail in Dublin, according to the sheriff’s office.

The incident happened at about 6 a.m. at the transportation yard behind the jail near Broder Boulevard, Sgt. Ray Kelly said.

The deputy was identified as 60-year-old Michael Foley, who had been with the sheriff’s department for 8 years and previously was an officer with the Concord Police Department for 29 years, Kelly said.

It was dark at the time of the accident and apparently the deputy who was driving the bus didn’t see Foley, who’s assigned to the transportation unit, and Foley didn’t see the bus, which was traveling at about 15 mph, Kelly said.

According to a statement from the sheriff’s office:

“Michael was one of the hardest working deputies on this agency. He used his experience and wisdom to mentor countless numbers of young officers throughout his career. He was an extremely kind man who loved his family, friends, co-workers and community.”

Kelly said the California Highway Patrol’s major accident investigation team will reconstruct the incident to find out exactly what happened.

The bus holds about 50 inmates but no inmates were on the bus at the time of the incident. The only people on the bus were the deputy who was driving and another deputy who was a passenger, according to Kelly.

The bus was in the process of going to the jail’s kitchen area to get prepared lunches for inmates who were going to be transported to a courthouse in Oakland for court appearances later in the morning, Kelly said.

Inmates were going to get on the bus after the food was loaded, he said.

The deputy who struck Foley is “devastated” by what happened and “feels tremendous pain,” Kelly said.

Kelly said, “We are really hurting right now.”